NG 58

New game 58 is up.


Round 1: D R A F E B O T C

I had FARED, BREAD, ABORTED (I thought of BORATED first, actually, thanks to Tim Clay finding it against me back in episode 326), and late in the piece found FACTORED for eight.

That's the only eight; the other sevens are CRAFTED, BROCADE, FORBADE, REDCOAT / CORDATE ("heart-shaped, as a shell"), and TABORED (TABOR as a noun is a type of drum, and TABOR as a verb is "to strike or beat, as a tabor").

My selection: FACTORED


Round 2: P U C N O Q E I N

I had UPON, POUNCE (almost wrote that down early), QUINCE, and decided to chance QUINONE.  I thought I recalled it, but I worried that I was confusing it with QUININE (a chemical used in treatments for malaria).  QUINONE is also valid, fortunately; it is another chemical used in tanning leather.

That's the only seven.  The other sixes are NUNCIO ("a permanent diplomatic representative of the pope at a foreign court or capital"), CINQUE ("the five at dice, cards, etc."), and CONINE (variant spelling of CONIINE, which is "[...] the active principle of the poison hemlock").

My selection: QUINONE


Round 3: Target 975 from 75 25 10 10 4 1

The target is a clear sign for people who've learned their 75-times tables, and finding 975 = (10 + 4 - 1)*75 should not be overly taxing.  I played around with some other approaches and also wrote down 975 = (4*10 - 1)*25 and 975 = 4*25*(10 - 1) + 75.

My selection: 975 = (10 + 4 - 1)*75


Round 4: H E I L N E O C S

I had LINE, INCHES, CHISEL, SENILE, INCLOSE, and ENCLOSE.  After time I found HELICONS ("a tuba in coiled form to be carried over the shoulder in cavalry bands"), although I had to check up on it to be sure, and then the safe ECHELONS as another eight.

The other eights are both chemicals: CHOLINES and CINEOLES.  There's a fair few other sevens, and I'll just mention the relatively common ones of SILENCE / LICENSE, LICHENS, and HELICES.

There's almost a nine -- Chambers lists LICHENOSE as a variant form of LICHENOUS, but the Macquarie only knows the latter.

My selection: ENCLOSE


Round 5: G S E E T T I P E

I had GEES, EGEST ("to discharge, as from the body; void (opposed to ingest)", rejected PETTIES (correctly so), SPITE, and SETTEE.

The other sixes are PETITE, SEPTET ("any group of seven persons or things"), and TEPEES (TEPEE being a variant spelling of TEEPEE).

There is a seven, though: ÉPÉEIST.

My selection: SETTEE


Round 6: Target 262 from 25 50 7 1 2 5

I did not think overly much about the difference being 12 or 13; if I had, I might have looked at the technique of doubling that I try every so often (usually unsuccessfully).  In this case it is a prime candidate with the 2 and 1 both present, and I would not have been hard put to find 262 = (7*(50 + 25) - 1)/2.  But I only saw that solution just as writing this up.

Instead, I found a more prosaic 262 = 5*50 + 2*(7 - 1), shortened it with 262 = 5*(50 + 1) + 7, and then made multiples of 10 mostly work for me with 262 = 7*(25 + 5) + 50 + 2.

My selection: 262 = 5*50 + 2*(7 - 1)


Round 7: D A L A S C E I R

My spider sense was tingling on this one, but I could not narrow it down in time.  I had SALAD, SCALED, and SCALIER.  After time I finally found RADICALS (a flashback to episode 15) as an eight.

The other eights are SALARIED, CALDERAS (CALDERA: "a large crater formed by the explosion or subsidence of the cone of a volcano"), and DECRIALS / RADICELS (RADICEL: "(in botany) a minute root; a rootlet") / RADICLES ("a rudimentary root; a radicel or rootlet").

My selection: SCALIER


Round 8: Target 870 from 25 5 1 7 6 8

I pulled out the factor of 5, and the cofactor of 174 was rather provocative; that led directly to the solution 875 = (7*25 - 1)*5, at which point I finally realised that this was just a tweak of 875 - 5.  I got there the long way around.

After time I found a way to use the factor of 6 with 870 = (5*(25 + 1) + 8 + 7)*6.

My selection: 875 = (7*25 - 1)*5


Round 9: MAD CREEPS

The -ED fragment was handy, as were the other aspects.  I found SCAMPERED after 1.5 seconds.